Cargill asks where is “Occupy” going?

My friend and colleague has a very astute discussion of the OWS movement where and how it has lost its way in his view. Dr. Cargill is an archaeologist and biblical scholar who is also a technologist at the University of Iowa. He focuses in on the fact that the OWS has now moved away from its original anti-greed message to making demands for free education. I think the second image is particularly perceptive since it makes note of the fact that while the OWS protestors may be “the 99%” in the US, on the global scale they are the 1% most wealthy.

Rather than stick to the core message so well articulated in the cartoon to the right, this leaderless revolution has sprawled into lists of ridiculous demands to such an extent that now Stephen Colbert (a supporter of the original movement) is even poking fun at it. The movement seems to be spinning out of control and becoming the second chance for hippie high school seniors and college freshmen like the “elected spokespeople,” Justin Wedes and “Ketchup,” who appear to be bent on making up for the fact they weren’t elected Student Body President. Or to put it as my wife put it, the current wave of OWS protesters:

…are identifying themselves as the “99%”, but are not demanding that the “1%” end world hunger. They are asking for their college tuition to be paid. They are asking for their credit card debt to be forgiven. They are asking for privileges that only the world’s wealthiest 1% enjoy, and they want it for free.